The first human to have caught the virus is thought to have done so at a seafood and live animal market in the Chinese city of Wuhan, capital of Hubei province.

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Of the six coronavirus strains previously known to infect humans, the new one initially appeared most genetically similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which killed 774 people during its 2004 outbreak.

Another coronavirus strain is Middle East respiratory syndrome (Mers), which killed 858 during its 2012 outbreak.

Mers is also thought to have originated in bats, with camels being the intermediate host.

Not all experts are convinced by the role of snakes in 2019-nCoV’s outbreak, however.

Speaking when the Peking University results were released, Professor Paul Hunter of the University of East Anglia said: “It is still not known with certainty and it may never be definitively proved.

“There are initial, although contested, reports the virus has already been detected in both bats and snakes, and the strains in both bats and snakes are similar to each other, and to the strains from human cases.

“There is still much more to find out about the virus and there is a real possibility the exact origin may not be found.

“The big question is no longer where it came from, but how and where it is spreading in human populations.”

Coronaviruses are “RNA viruses”, which means they “mutate all the time”, Yahoo UK reported.

In simple terms, RNA is a “precursor” to the more well-known DNA.

Exposure to live animals at the market likely enabled the virus to “jump” from its origin species into humans.